Members
of Occupy LA Kick of a Campaign to End Political Repression of Occupiers and
Activists

LOS
ANGELES – Over six months after Envoys of the United Nations wrote a letter to
the Obama Administration, the U.S. government has yet to response to requests
regarding local repression of the Occupy movement. Members of Occupy LA plan to
push the issue with local and federal governments after alleged increase of
Rights violations by LAPD.

Occupiers feel LAPD has
targeted them in attempt to silence their dissent and stop their actions.
Courtroom witnesses have been threatened with arrest; Occupiers have been
arrested for chalk art; and say they are victims of police misconduct.

The
day before Independence Day in America, Occupy LA members gather for court
support for Anthony Lascano, an Occupy activist, who the courts unexpectantly
took into custody on Monday afternoon.

A
Judge has set Lascano’s bail at $75,000. An amount Occupiers says exemplifies
increase political repression and Human Rights violations against Occupiers by
LAPD, the so-called Justice System, and the U.S. Government.

Occupy
activists plan to occupy the courtroom for Lascano’s bail hearing, City Council
Chambers, and the LAPD

Board
of Police Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning in protest of said
repression.

Occupiers
claim the LAPD have made 11 Occupy arrests in three weeks for chalking.

In
a letter dated June 4, Carol Sobel, a First-Amendment-Rights lawyer with the
National Lawyers Guild, explained to the Special Assistant for Constitutional
Policing for the LAPD that the 9th Circuit unanimously held that “no
chalk would damage a sidewalk” in MacKinney v. Nielsen from 1995.

“Given
that this decision is now 18 years old, there is no excuse for these arrests,”
states Sobel in the letter.

Occupiers
say LA’s current graffiti laws do not reflect the Constitutional ruling yet.
Activist point out that elected officials and police officers are sworn to
uphold and protect the Constitution. However, many Occupiers feel individuals
of these entities systematically repress their Rights.

The
City of Orlando recently spent $200,000 defending a chalk-art arrest of an
Occupier in Florida. The city lost that case and activists say that the City of
Los Angeles could waste up to $2.4 million dollars defending the 11 chalking
arrests this month.

Occupiers
believe the LAPD selectively enforces the graffiti law against them while the
City’s own Parking Enforcement officers use chalk on the tires of vehicles they
wish to monitor for time restrictions.

The
activist also say, that the police did not arrest any activists at this
weekend’s anti-Walmart protest in downtown organized by Labor and other
community groups. From photos of the event, it clearly had plenty of
chalk art written on the pavement surrounding the actions.

So
far, the activists know of no arrests of children for the summer activity of
chalking on cement. Activists argue the chalk comes in packaging marketed for
sidewalk art us and that water-soluble chalk does no damage.

Members
of Occupy LA allege that City Officials violate California Civil Code 52.1.
They say LAPD — under the color of law— interferes with their exercise and
enjoyment of their Rights by threats, intimidation, and coercion.

To
avoid prosecution, the City required dozens of Occupy LA arrestees to take a
First-Amendment-Rights class administered through the City Attorney’s
office. Now, Occupy LA says it is the City that needs a lesson in the
First Amendment.